Date:
01 June 2009
The Inter-Academy Panel on International Issues (or IAP) has today launched a statement signed by 70 of
the world's leading science academies calling for ocean acidification to be
placed on the agenda for the UNFCCC talks being held in Bonn over the next two
weeks.
The statement emphasises;
- the critical role of the oceans in the global carbon cycle: the oceans have
absorbed about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by
human activities since the industrial revolution.
- the rapidity and irreversibility of the changes in ocean chemistry that have
occurred as a direct result. The oceans are now more acidic than they have been
for 800,000 years.
- the implications of these changes for marine ecosystems;
The statement calls on world leaders to:
- Acknowledge that ocean acidification is a direct and real consequence of
increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, is already having an effect at
current concentrations, and is likely to cause grave harm to important marine
ecosystems as CO2 concentrations reach 450 ppm and above;
- Recognise that reducing the build up of CO2 in the atmosphere is the only
practicable solution to mitigating ocean acidification;
- Within the context of the UNFCCC negotiations, recognise the direct threats
posed by increasing atmospheric CO2 emissions to the oceans and therefore
society, and take action to mitigate this threat;
- Implement action to reduce global CO2 emissions by at least 50% of 1990
levels by 2050 and continue to reduce them thereafter;
- Reinvigorate action to reduce stressors, such as overfishing and pollution,
on marine ecosystems to increase resilience to ocean acidification.
Read the Royal Society's 2005 report. entitled 'Ocean acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide'.
View the Inter-Academy
Panel on International Issues website.
View the related press release here.